With Independence Day just a week away, I thought I’d whip together a quick & festive craft to share with you: The Liberty Pinwheel Brooch, or Libby Pin for short! Wear one to your July 4th picnic or make some to hand out as ribbons to the winner of the 3-legged race or the egg-toss!
This will be a words-only tutorial since it is pretty straightforward. You’ll need small scraps of felt, fabric, fusible webbing, ribbon trims, a button, and a pin back. Grab scissors, a needle, thread, a marking tool, a ruler, an iron and some craft glue, too.
The following instructions are for the brooch shown above with the blue button in the center. *See notes at the end for the other version. Please read through all of the steps before beginning.
1) Draw a 4″ square on the paper side of a piece of fusible webbing. Create an X in the center by drawing diagonal lines from corner to corner. Cut along the lines to make 4 small triangles.
2) Fuse 2 webbing triangles to the wrong side of a piece of print fabric and 2 triangles to the wrong side of a second print fabric. Cut out the fabric triangles following the edge of the webbing’s paper backing.
3) Peel the paper backing off of the four fabric triangles and arrange them, alternating prints, webbing side down, onto a piece of felt. Align the points of the right angles together to recreate the 4″ square. Using a hot iron, fuse the triangles to the felt.
4) Trim away excess felt around the perimeter of the fused fabric square. Next, cut diagonally through the felt square, from each corner where the fabric triangles meet, stopping 1/2″ away from the center. DO NOT cut all the way to the center of the square.
5) Thread a needle with a double strand and knot the end. With the fabric side facing up, bring the needle up through the center of the square. One at a time, pull one corner of each triangle towards the center and tack it into place with a few stitches. Alternate corners so that it creates a pinwheel effect.
6) Embellish the center with a felt circle (fringed by snipping the edge) and a button. Hand sew through all layers.
7) Cut several trims to a 7-8″ length. Arrange them on to the back of the pinwheel, with about 1/3 of the length sticking up above the pinwheel. Hand tack into place with needle and thread.
8) Cut a small diamond shape out of felt. Snip 2 small slits, open the bar pin, and pass the ends of the pin through the slits. Apply glue to the back of the felt diamond and press it onto the back of the pinwheel, sandwiching the bar part of the pin back.
* For the red brooch with the cherry print, the square I began with was 5″. Also, I did not cut the square of webbing apart into four triangles. I fused the whole square to the cherry print fabric, then cut into the square along the diagonal lines after I fused it to the felt.
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and are able to make a few for the holiday! Please let me know if any of the instructions are unclear and I’ll do my best to clarify.
Hmm… I’m thinking of these put on a hair clip. Maybe even a large one on a dowel rod, though inevitebly my girls would turn that one into a fairy wand :). Very cute and easy. Planning to do with at least my 9 yr old. Thanks for all your work!
Andrea
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I like these pinwheels! Have to work at the antique store on Sunday. We will have a parade at noon in our small little town. I purchased a large bag of boxes of sparklers that we will give away with each purchase that day. Not as personal as what you are making, but will have to do….thanks for sharing, debbie
Love these! Thanks for the tutorial! They’ll make great gifts. Take care!
brilliant, as usual. I think I can do this. Even though my crafting genes have been hiding lately, I think I can get it together and make this.
Cutest thing I’ve seen in ages!!! Thank you for your generosity of time and talent. Happy Independence Day to you.
Thanks for sharing this adorable Craft!! I wonder if you could skip the fusible webbing and use sticky backed felt? I picked some up at Wal Mart for another craft. Have a Good Holiday week~end!!
Nancy
http://www.coeurdalenegifts.com
coeurdalenegifts.blogspot.com
Beautiful brooch! I have to make one.
Thank you very much for sharing!
Love your blog and your work.
very cute! May make some to hand out this coming weekend!
I just love this idea and made some Canada Day versions for my kids and I. I posted them on my blog and linked back to you – I hope that’s OK?
Thanks for the tutorial and inspiration!
Jenn
Great idea!Thank you for sharing!
Thanks so much for this handy tutorial! I am off to Nashville for the holidays and was wondering what I could take along as a little “hostess” gift. This will be PERFECT and I think I have all the supplies on hand–which makes it seem even better!
Have a Happy 4th of July!
Suzanne in TX
http://crazyforcollars.net
wow thats really very creative… I really like craft work and last time at Halloween. I made two dresses, Spiderman for my son and Princess for my Daughter. I love my kids a lot and they do the same..
Super cute!!!!!
Does the webbing keep the fabric from raveling? Your edges look so crisp.
Anon,
Yes! The fusible webbing helps keep the edges from fraying.
B
What a great idea! Thank you so much, I am going to try and make these into hair clips and headbands. 🙂
So creative and adorable!
I just copied the instructions because I will be making them for Chritsmas as name tags for the Chritsmas table and then everyone can take them home for their trees!
Thanks for such nice ideas!
OMG I love these, they are gorgeous, will have to try them out for myself! Thanks for sharing 🙂
This is the perfect brooch to wear for a neighborhood street party to celebrate the 4th of July! Thanks for sharing. I will feature/link in a future post nearer this year’s event.
Pearl
http://www.beadinggem.com
I love these, I’ll have to make some for all the girls, thank you
great tutorial. thank you hugs
Great project! I just wanted to let you know that we featured this project on our Facebook page with over 13,000 fans. We’d love it if you’d use our Featured Blogger button, available at: http://www.dailycraft.com/thank-you-for-crafting/. Our audience loved the project and we look forward to sharing more from you. Please let us know if you have any questions or projects you’d love us to feature! Thanks!
brilliant, as usual. I think I can do this. Even though my crafting genes have been hiding lately, I think I can get it together and make this.
Thanks! We will use these as a tray favor for Labor Day for the local Hospital. You are a life saver…